Peter Heather\'s "Fall of the Roman Empire"

[Nicholas Gaukroger]

For my first post I would like to discuss Peter Heather's "The Fall of the Roman Empire". I found the book quite illuminating. It inspired me to author a science fiction novel about the collapse of an interstellar empire (which I've just recently submitted). Before I get into that I would like to hear other people's opinions about Heather's book and their views on the fall of the Western Roman Empire. If any of you are science fiction fans then you know that Asimov in his classic "Foundation" series favored Gibbons explanation for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire: decadence and the impact of Chritianity on Rome's warror spirit. I favor Heather's: overextension and Rome's influence on the Gemanic world, in affect Romanizing them, followed by the Hunnic pressure that forced the Germanic tribes westward. Any thoughts?

I prefer the arguments laid out in Guy Halsall's "Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568" - as I have just noted in another post :lol: